16GB is only showing up as 8GB in bios and windows

[Ryland]

I installed four 4GB sticks of Corsair memory into my nephews computer (it previously only had 2 sticks of the same memory). When the bios came up it shows 8GB of memory, windows showed 12GB total (8GB available). CPU-Z shows four sticks of 4GB each in single channel mode. Does anybody have any idea why?

Windows 7 Professional 64bit
GA-78LMT-USB3 F2 bios
fx-4300+
Corsair CMX16GX3M4A1600C9

 

[svenge]

Did you clear CMOS after installing the RAM?

 

[Ryland]

No, I assumed that the motherboard would pick up the extra memory and be happy with it. Ive never run across a situation where I had to clear CMOS.

 

[Coup27]

You would not normally have to clear CMOS when adding new RAM but if the RAM has not been detected correctly it would be a good place to start. Also ensure that you have the latest BIOS.

 

[Ryland]

I will update his bios (I didnt want to do it last night with a Blizzard on its way today) and load defaults to see if that clears it up. If not then I will try clearing the cmos. Thanks.

 

[jhansman]

Also, swap out two modules and see if the remaining two are recognized. Then, swap in the others and repeat. This will help you determine if your modules may be the culprit. Once you know all four work, the other steps may help you figure out what's up.

 

[Ryland]

Loading optimized defaults didnt work. I will try swapping modules next time I am over there along with upgrading the bios.

 

[Ryland]

The issue ended up being one dimm not seated all the way. Of course it was the one that was hardest to install being under a bunch of wiring.

 

[Soulkeeper]

I had the same problem the other month

The heatspreader had shifted down on one of the dimms causing it to keep the dimm from seating all the way. No matter how much I pushed on the mem it wouldn't click in. Easy fix, but I hate these memory heatspreaders tbh

glad you fixed your problem